Senior Manager, Demand Planning

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About Our Client:

Our client is a leading Tier 1 Consumer Goods Company.

Position Scope:

This role is responsible to lead, develop and align the consensus demand plan for across all categories in the market, in the effective application of best practice and efficient processes, as well as in the efficient use of tools. This role involves overseeing and optimizing demand planning and strategy for the market, acting as the key interaction point for operations with cross functional stakeholders across the market. It will focus on ensuring that the demand planning function operates efficiently, accurately and strategically to meet customer demand and support the company’s broader objectives. Balanced focus on the long-term business development without losing sight of the necessity to continuously deliver sound results to drive customer and consumer centric mindset. The role will also ensure establishment of a diverse and robust talent pipeline to drive functional capabilities in demand planning functional competencies. Moreover, the this role will be the owner of the signed-off demand plan (volumetric demand plan), for all categories in the market – a new expectation that will required a significant amount of cross-functional influence at the leadership level. The role will collaborate & support the demand planning scenarios creation as part of the commercial review process, contributing to the Strategic (3 years +) and Tactical (18 months) business planning via monthly business planning.

Responsibilities:

End-to-End Demand Planning Performance & Analytics

Manage and oversee a skilled, motivated team of demand planners to ensure robustness of the demand planning process that provides accurate insights into future demand patterns. This role will be the owner of the signed-off demand plan (volumetric demand plan), for all categories in market.
Review monthly demand performance metrics across the categories and engage with relevant stakeholders to define an improvement action plan (if needed), including collecting all the inputs to create the different demand scenarios that will be evaluated during the scenario planning & sign-off meeting. Collaborate & support the demand planning scenarios creation as part of the commercial review process. (ICP etc.).
Role will drive orchestration and drive improvement through category demand planning strategies, including digital enablers (i.e. statistical modeling etc.) and processes.
Identify and implement best practices in demand planning, including development and refinement of processes & tools. Also drives root cause analysis in tandem with key partners to continually improve operational efficiency.
Establish and monitor standard key performance indicators across the different categories within the market for demand planning (e.g., forecast accuracy, bias, etc.).
Ensure consistent improvement of the quality of the demand plans and the efficiency with which they are produced based on category-specific demand patterns, portfolio/product considerations, and commercialization.
Collaborates with category supply planning managers, revenue managers, and BU CSD/commercial leads and relevant stakeholders on issue escalations where central resource is required to drive improvements to ensure optimal resolutions of issues and that proposed solutions are applicable across the enterprise (as appropriate).
Partner with sales and marketing to incorporate promotions, new product launches, and market intelligence into the demand plan.

Collaboration & cross-functional Integration on key operational workstreams

Role supports partnership, with relevant stakeholders, for further optimization of MBS / Integrated Business Planning ( IBP)/ S&OE processes within market.
In addition to the above mentioned demand planning activity leadership and support, this role will be the planning leader to manage the relationship and the effective flow of information between the integrated planning functions including supply planning, and internal business partners (e.g., revenue managers, commercial development teams, key account managers, CSD Leaders)
Influence stakeholders across different functions to drive alignment and accountability in demand planning.
Contribute to the company’s competitive planning solution (focusing on a specific category) by active and constructive participation in the Integrated Commercial Planning (ICP), Monthly Business Planning (MBP), Dynamic Forecast (DF) processes & annual volume commitment process.

Planning Team Strategy & Process Improvement

Work closely with the Demand Planning Excellence Lead to improve the process efficiency in demand planning.
Talent management & succession support across the demand planning and the integrated planning functional teams.
Support the stewardship of the superuser communities (SME) in both demand planning teams, statistical forecasting analysists to support process and digital resource compliance.
Lead and maintain a skilled, motivated team to continuously improve the quality of the demand plans and the efficiency with which they are provided. Provide onboarding, training and mentorship to the demand planning communication, with direct span of control, to enhance their skills and expertise.
Support digital transformation efforts, incorporating AI/ML and predictive analytics where applicable.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

Link to Integrated Planning Leads, Revenue Manager, BU Ops Leadership, DSP Excellence Lead, DSP Digital excellence Lead, Finance teams to ensure alignment and ensure process standardization & sharing of demand planning best practices.
Additional connections and stakeholder management required with CSD leads, Sales Leadership and One Ops leadership to drive towards “one number” planning.

Required Skills & Knowledge:

Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and make strategic decisions.
Strong Leadership of Demand Planning Principles, Process and Best Practices; Traditional, and Digital forecasting enhanced strategies.
Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to collaborate and influence effectively across departments.
Proven track record in leading and optimization of Demand Planning/Statistical Forecasting management.
Demonstrated leadership experience in Demand Planning , Supply Chain Management, Integrated Business Planning/Business management.
Ability to lead multiple teams and projects through significant change management; process improvements; and standardization/ simplification efforts.
Knowledge of product portfolio, brand profitability.
Knowledge of E2E value chain drivers and connectivity.
Demonstrated knowledge of enterprise planning and management techniques (MBP, IBP, S&OP, S&OE, Control Tower etc) and end-to-end supply chain operations.
Demonstrated understanding of demand and forecasting dynamics with customers in the Canadian CPG industry preferred.

Education and Experience:

Completion of University Degree in Supply Chain, Business Economics or a related field; ( MBA is beneficial).
Minimum 7-10 years experience in supply chain – cross functional with broad view of E2E value chain.
Experience in developing and leading sales and operations planning processes.
Proficiency in demand planning tools (e.g., SAP IBP, APO, SAS , OMP. OSPREY), statistical modeling, data management (or other relevant planning technologies common to industry)
Knowledge of other system tools (SAP Business Objects, BW, Power BI etc.)
MS Office tools (Excel, PPT, Word, Teams)

Application Instructions:

To apply, please send a resume to Jessica Alcock at Jessica.Alcock@summitsearchgroup.com

Summit Search Group is a fair and equitable search firm. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the recruitment and selection process.